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Bonne Maman Dulce de Leche and Pomegranate Trifle

Dulce de Leche and Trifle

I recently had the pleasure of working for one of my favourite jam companies, Bonne Maman for their Holiday Open House. I have so much experience with them already, visiting their company in France where I had the opportunity to talk with them at the heart of it all. I have a lot of respect for how dedicated and passionate they are of their amazing creations. We had a lovely time, with a daytime event where anyone was welcome to come in and sample the products with help from Boulart Bread, they provided a smorgous board of different loaves of bread for us. There were crafts, DIY Candleholders (super cute) and delicious food prepared by Chef Roman Avril. It was nice to be able to have this event run so smoothly with fellow influencers who love the brand as much as I do. I was given the dulce de leche and trifle to work with because it’s perfect for the holiday season and differs from their other products. This inspired me to pull from my cookbook.

My challenge, however, was that I needed to find a fresh fruit that wasn’t too sweet to compete with the perfectly silky dulce de leche and trifle. Pomegranates were the winner, because not only are they seasonal and have a crunchy texture, but they are perfectly festive and added the beautiful touch of red.

Tizz’s Tips: You can make any cake into a trifle and it doesn’t always have to be a huge masterpiece. Mini trifles are super cute for a small intimate gathering. Booze it up! I don’t add booze since there are usually kids at the table but hey, if you want to, drizzle in a little kirsch, limoncello, or cognac, for that extra kick. It’s especially good when you are making a trifle with a drier cake. A good trifle needs time to sit. You want to let the flavours mingle. Perfect if you want to get dessert done the day before. Double-check to make sure you have room in the fridge to store it.

Makes: 8 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: if making cake and pastry cream, 1 hour

Total Time: 2 hours

Special Equipment Needed:  A large glass dessert bowl, trifle bowl, or any clean clear vessel with relatively straight sides. Vases and old fishbowls will also work. For mini trifles, use empty Bonne Maman glass jars with lids to do the trick.

Ingredients:

  • 1 recipe Vanilla Pastry Cream (see recipe below)
  • 1 angel food cake: store-bought or see recipe below, cut into cubes
  • 1/2 liter whipping cream (35%)
  • 1 jar Bonne Maman Dulce de Leche
  • 1 cup pomegranate seeds
  • Garnish options: pomegranate seeds, torn mint, slivered almonds, pecans, crumbled amaretti biscuits, shaved chocolate or granola.

Method:

Whip cream with 1/4 cup Bonne Maman Dulce de Leche until stiff peaks form Layer trifle starting with 1/3 of the cubed angel food cake on the bottom. Then spread 1/2 pastry cream, 1/3 pomegranate seeds, drizzle Bonne Maman Dulce de Leche, and dollop 1/3 of the whipped cream. For the second layer, use 1/3 cubed cake, 1/3 pomegranate seeds, drizzle Bonne Maman Dulce de Leche, then 1/3 whipped cream.

Repeat with the last layer finishing off the cake with whipped cream. Garnish to your desire.


Dulce de Leche and Pomegranate Trifle

Christine Tizzard
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 1 hr
Total Time 2 hrs
Course Dessert
Servings 8

Equipment

  • large glass dessert bowl, trifle bowl, or any clean clear vessel with relatively straight sides. Vases work as well as do old fish bowls. For mini trifles, use empty (Bonne Maman) glass jars with lids.

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups vanilla pastry cream see Vanilla Pastry Cream Recipe
  • 1 angel food cake Storebought or search recipe
  • 2 cups whipping cream 35%
  • 1 jar dulce de leche Bonne Maman
  • 1 cup pomegranate seeds

Garnish Options

  • pomegranate seeds
  • torn mint
  • shaved chocolate

Instructions
 

  • Whip cream with 1/4 cup dulce de leche until stiff peaks form.
  • Layer trifle starting with 1/3 of the cubed angel food cake on the bottom. Then spread 1/2pastry cream, 1/3 pomegranate seeds, drizzle dulce de leche, and dollop 1/3 of the whipped cream. For second layer, use 1/3 cubed cake, 1/3 pomegranate seeds, drizzle dulce de leche, then 1/3 whipped cream. Repeat with last layer finishing off the cake with whipped cream.
  • Garnish to your desire.

Zero Waste Tips

  • Booze it up. I don’t add booze since there are usually kids at the table but hey, drizzle in a little kirsch, limoncello, or cognac, especially good when a making trifle with a drier or day old cake
  • You can make any cake into a trifle and it doesn’t always have to be a huge masterpiece. Mini trifles are super cute for a small intimate gathering.
Keyword angel food cake, bonne maman, dulce de leche, pomegranate, trifle

Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream

Ingredients:

  • 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  • 2 cups whole milk or milk alternative (nut, seed, soy, or coconut)
  • 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
  • 3 Tbsp cornstarchA Pinch of sal
  • t4 egg yolks
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Method:

Scrape seeds from the split vanilla bean using back of spoon or knife and add both bean and seeds to heavy-bottomed saucepot. Pour over milk and place over medium heat until milk is steaming. Turn off heat, cover and let steep for 10 minutes, infusing the vanilla into the milk as you would tea.

Meanwhile, whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk in egg yolks to make thick pale, yellow paste. After the 10-minute steep, remove the vanilla pod from hot milk, wash well and set aside for another use. Very slowly ladle hot vanilla milk into the egg mixture, while whisking constantly. If you find the bowl with the egg mixture is moving around too much, call out for an extra pair of hands, or wrap a damp tea towel around the bottom of the bowl. This should keep it from moving around.Here we are bringing the egg mixture up gradually in temperature to avoid the egg yolks from curdling. This is called tempering.

Rinse out saucepot but do not dry. The slight wetness actually helps prevent scorching in this next step. Return custard to saucepot and place over medium heat. Stir with a heat-resistant spatula or wooden spoon until the mixture starts to thicken and barely reaches a boil, about 3-5 minutes. Don’t worry if you get some lumps. Remove from heat and pour through a mesh strainer into a bowl. Whisk in butter.

Once the pastry cream has cooled slightly, cover with saran wrap pressed against it, creating a seal and preventing skin from forming. Refrigerate to cool if needed.


Vanilla Pastry Cream aka Pudding

Got leftover egg yolks? Nothing quite like a batch homemade vanilla pudding!
Course Dessert

Ingredients
  

  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 2 cups whole milk or plant based alternative
  • 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
  • 3 Tbsp cornstarch
  • Pinch salt
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2 Tbsp butter unsalted

Instructions
 

  • Split vanilla bean lenghtwise down one side with pairing knife. Scrape seeds from split vanilla bean using back of spoon or knife and add both bean and seeds to heavy bottomed saucepot. Pour over milk and place over medium heat until milk is steaming. Turn off heat, cover and let steep for 10 minutes, infusing the vanilla into the milk as you would tea.
  • Meanwhile, whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk in egg yolks to make thick pale yellow paste.
  • After the 10 minute steep, remove vanilla pod from hot milk, wash well and set aside for another use. Very slowly ladle hot vanilla milk into egg mixture, while whisking constantly. If you find the bowl with the egg mixture is moving around too much, call out for an extra pair of hands, or wrap a damp tea towel around the bottom of bowl. This should keep it from moving around. Here we are bringing the egg mixture up gradually in temperature to avoid the egg yolks from curdling. This is called tempering.
  • Rinse out saucepot but do not dry. The slight wetness actually helps prevent scorching in this next step. Return custard to saucepot and place over medium heat. Stir with a heat resistant spatula or wooden spoon until mixture starts to thicken and barely reaches a boil, about 3-5 minutes. Don’t worry if you get some lumps.
  • Remove from heat and pour through mesh strainer into bowl. Whisk in butter.
  • Once pastry cream has cooled slightly, cover with saran wrap pressed against it, creating a seal and preventing skin from forming. Refrigerate to cool if needed.

Homemade Angel Food Cake

Makes: 8 servings

Prep time: 10 minutes

Bake time: 35 minutes

Cooling Time: 1 hour

Special Equipment Needed: Angel food cake pan (removable bottom cake pan with a hole in the middle)


Ingredients:

  • 1 cupcake and pastry flour, sifted
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 12 large egg whites
  • 1 tsp cream of tartar
  • 3/4 cup sugar (superfine sugar works better)
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven 350°F and whisk together flour and salt in a bowl, set aside. Beat egg whites until foamy on medium-high speed with mixer, about one minute. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Add sugar gradually and continue to beat until stiff peaks form then beat in vanilla. Sift in flour in two additions, folding gently with a spatula after each addition. Avoid over-mixing, since this will deflate the batter. Gently spoon batter into a non-greased pan. Use a knife to cut through batter, releasing any air bubbles. Bake until golden and cake springs back when lightly pressed with fingers, 35 to 40 minutes. Invert pan and let cool for 1 hour. Run a knife around sides and bottom of the pan to help cake release.

Storage: Can be stored tightly wrapped for 2-3 days at room temp or up to a week in the fridge.

After the lovely afternoon, the evening turned into a warm intimate gathering with a traditional Christmas dinner. We were blessed enough to have Chef Roman Avril prepare a full turkey dinner (he used the red currant jelly in place and cranberry sauce, and it was to die for). It was washed down perfectly with cocktails made from Bonne Maman’s jam. I had no idea you could use jam in your bar cart! At the end of the day, all I can say is that I love working with them. It’s such a blessing to know what wholesome conversation can come about just from talking about jam. It is truly a universal, comforting product. If you are stumped on what to fill your loved one’s stockings with this year, I definitely suggest a jar of Bonne Maman. There is a flavour for everyone. Or perhaps you could just get some for yourself and use it for your own incredible holiday creations.

Images courtesy of Bonne Maman

This post was sponsored by Bonne Maman. I only write about things I love and are passionate about. My thoughts are 100% my own. I hope you enjoyed my dulce de leche and trifle recipe. More Bonne Maman recipes can be found here.

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